Status note (April 2026): The papers in this series on Information Physics have been substantially revised and clarified, but still contain conjectures and speculative explorations. The NEMS formal research program — the machine-checked suite of 93 papers and 17 Lean 4 libraries — is a separate, more rigorous program described at novaspivack.com/research.
After years of work, a web of ideas achieved practical fusion, yielding an evolving body of theoretical exploration on consciousness, information, and physics. This page indexes the published papers in this series, organized by program. All papers are pre-publication drafts; confidence levels are noted for each section.
The series divides into three programs: Information Physics (IP), which attempts to derive physical laws from information-geometric principles with maximal rigor and empirical testability; Geometric Information Theory (GIT), which applies differential geometry to information processing systems with applications to AI and neuroscience; and Alpha Theory / Transputation, which explores ontological and formal foundations of sentience.
I. Geometric Information Theory (GIT)
Confidence: Tier 1 (mathematical foundations) is very high confidence. Computational applications (Tier 2) are well-grounded hypotheses. Biological and consciousness applications are speculative and depend on prior validation of Tier 1–2.
Toward a Geometric Theory of Information Processing: Mathematical Foundations, Computational Applications, and Empirical Predictions (GIT)
The foundational paper establishing Geometric Information Theory as a mathematical framework for analyzing information processing systems via Fisher information geometry. Covers natural gradient optimization, geometric complexity measures, biological neural network predictions (medium confidence), and consciousness applications (highly speculative). Multi-tier confidence framework with explicit validation timelines.
The Geometry of Intelligence: Why Math Might Hold the Key to Understanding Minds and Machines
A non-technical companion introducing GIT concepts for a general audience.
II. Information Physics (IP)
Confidence: The IP series develops a conjectured framework where dE = πk₂T dΩ links energy changes to information geometric complexity changes. Each paper is honestly framed as a motivated conjecture with supporting arguments and experimental predictions. None should be read as established physics.
A. Foundations
The Energetic Cost of Information Geometric Complexity: dE = α₀dΩ (IP.Found)
Motivates the conjecture dE = πk₂T dΩ through three supporting arguments: extended Landauer thermodynamics (establishes α₀ ∝ k₂T), black hole thermodynamics under KBH=1 (determines β₀ = π), and action principle consistency. Honest about what is derived vs. assumed.
Information Processing Complexity as Spacetime Curvature (IPC=SC)
Develops the hypothesis that information geometric complexity Ω sources a novel stress-energy tensor Cμν = αΩ gμν in Einstein’s field equations. Identifies the gap between the established result (Landauer heat gravitates) and the novel hypothesis (Ω gravitates independently). Proposes dark energy predictions and experimental tests.
B. Classical Field Theory (IP.Field)
The Ω-Field: Classical Field Theory for Information Geometric Complexity
Constructs the effective field theory for the spatial complexity density field ω(x,t). Fluctuations satisfy Klein-Gordon dynamics with mass mψ = (ℏ/c)√(β²/κ) and correlation length λ = √(κ/β²). Two free parameters (κ, β²) must be determined experimentally.
C. Quantum Dynamics (IP.Quantum)
Quantum Dynamics of the Ω-Field: Ω-Quanta and the Information Geometric Uncertainty Principle
Canonical quantization of ψ(x,t) produces scalar bosons (Ω-quanta / omegons). Proposes minimal SM couplings (all free parameters). Derives the Information Geometric Uncertainty Principle ΔΩ Δt ≥ ℏ/(2πk₂T). Discusses current collider and stellar cooling constraints.
D. Standard Model Structure (IP.MassSym)
Information Geometric Origins of Mass, Charge, and Fundamental Symmetries from Ω-Field Configurations
Explores whether the SM gauge group U(1)Y × SU(2)L × SU(3)C can be understood as the consequence of information processing requirements. Central result: sin²θW = 1/(1+Nc) = 0.25 from color multiplicity, agreeing with experiment to 8%. Cites Furey, Connes, Baez, Georgi-Glashow.
E. Cosmological Implications (IP.Cosmo)
Cosmological Evolution of the Information Field: Running Complexity Coupling and Unified Cosmological Phases
Extends the Ω-field to cosmological scales via a running coupling αeff(T). Proposes a three-phase cosmology (inflation, metastable equilibrium, rolling dark energy). The parameter A ∼ 1060 is phenomenological; the dark energy equation of state w(z) is testable via DESI/Euclid.
F. Gravity-Information Synthesis (IGS)
The Information-Gravity Synthesis: Field Dynamics of the Information Complexity Tensor
Develops a tensor field theory for Cμν going beyond the scalar ω-field. Introduces four additional free coupling constants. Explores critical phenomena, holographic formulation (AdS/CFT connection), and gravitational wave polarization predictions. Explicitly framed as a theoretical sketch requiring further development.
III. Alpha Theory and Transputation
These papers explore the ontological and formal foundations of sentience, arguing that genuine awareness requires a processing modality (Transputation) beyond standard computation, grounded in an ontological base (Alpha). These are philosophical-formal explorations; the formal proof in the Transputation paper draws on Gödel-style diagonal arguments, though the full chain of reasoning from formal incompleteness to sentience involves additional philosophical assumptions not yet machine-checked.
On The Formal Necessity of Trans-Computational Processing for Sentience (FNTP)
The flagship formal argument: constructs a deductive proof that sentience (primal self-awareness) requires a processing modality transcending standard Turing-equivalent computation, achieved by coupling with an intrinsically self-referential ontological ground (Alpha). The formal argument draws on diagonalization; the connection to consciousness involves additional philosophical bridging.
The Fundamental Proof That Consciousness Transcends Computation
Accessible companion to FNTP for a general audience.
The Conscious Universe: Why True Awareness Requires More Than Computation · A Step-by-Step Guide to Why Consciousness Transcends Computation
Non-technical two-part companion series for the transputation argument.
The Geometric Nature of Consciousness: A New Framework
Exploratory essay on the philosophical implications of geometric approaches to consciousness.
IV. Mathematical Foundations of Self-Referential Systems
The Mathematical Foundations of Self-Referential Systems: From Computability to Transfinite Dynamics
Book-length treatment developing Recursive Representation Theory, the Self-Referential Renormalization Group, and the Self-Computation Principle. Published as a Zenodo preprint.
A New Mathematics of Self-Reference: A Comprehensive Non-Mathematical Summary
Accessible summary of the above for non-specialist readers.
V. Relation to the NEMS Formal Research Program
The work on this page is exploratory theoretical research — motivated conjectures and philosophical-formal arguments. It is distinct from and less rigorous than the NEMS Reflexive Reality research program, which is a machine-checked suite of 93 papers and 17 Lean 4 libraries with a zero-sorry, zero-custom-axiom policy. The NEMS program has since superseded some of the ideas here with more rigorous treatments — in particular:
- The transputation / non-computability of sentience arguments are formalized in NEMS Paper 10 and Paper 15
- The no-self-exhaustion results and observer non-self-exhaustion are proved in Paper 51 through Paper 55
- The Alpha theorem and awareness-as-ground results are in Papers 63–70
- Physical incompleteness is in Paper 11
The IP series (information geometric complexity sourcing gravity) does not yet have a counterpart in the NEMS program; it remains an exploratory conjecture.